9 responses to “Speaking of garden gadgets…”

On the rare occasion that I have to specify and or install a hose end connect timer I purchase “Gardena” , it is reliable and is the most long lasting out of the bunch due to its good gasket seal.
The death of battery operated hose end timers is water leakage into the battery housing.
You can probably find one inexpensively at Amazon or an online landscape supply shop if you don’t have a good local supplier in your hood.

I like the simple wind up ones. AFter all the advances in technology they can’t make a water timer that works.
Then again what do you want for $40. To get a water timer to work properly don’t be cheap. A good one that really works is probably going to cost $100 +.

After trying all kinds and all prices the one I have found that works best for me is from Lowe’s. It is their Mr. Landscaper brand. It is intuitive, easy to program, uses a 9v battery that lasts me about 15 months and has plenty of program options. I use it for a drip system with feeder lines for the containers on my decks. The line runs at least 100 feet and the dozens of plants are happy. I use emiters that have variable outputs to compensate for the different sized containers and/or plant needs. They also have a smaller, inexpensive, system that I use for the few plants on my front steps.

For soaker hoses and spot watering needs I use the wind up timers.

I always try to avoid recommending the big box stores over the independents but this works for me.

Wish I could recall the name, but Miller Farms has an orange one with a great big display, great big dials to control it, and like four settings so it is STUPID easy to set. $30, $40?

I don’t care for Gardena’s methods of setting. Too complicated. For god’s sake, don’t get anything that tells you what setting it is on by beeping at you. You will want to die, or else kill it.

That said, Gardenas do seem to last a bit longer than other brands, but I want to stab my eyes out when I see I have to set one. Especially the beepy kinds. A truck goes by, the chickens bawk, your client won’t stop talking and you’re starting over.

Most battery-op ones will last for 2-3 years if left outside year-round. Bring it in for winter and they might last better.

I think my criteria for selecting these is different from yours. I don’t want to have to come out to troubleshoot whether it is set, and I don’t think I have a single client who is willing to man up and set the Gardenas. The big orange one with the giant dial – there’s no excuse. It’s just easy as anything to set that sucker up. Took me all of a minute on my first time.

“stab my eyes out “….. bhaw ha ha !
Another reason why I am half blind, must be due to all these years of mind numbing irrigation controllers.
If you think Gardena is bad ( and it can be mighty annoying) don’t try a 24 station Smart Computer Irritrol . The damn thing requires you to enter more information than a mortgage agreement.

Wow, quite a lot of naysayers on this product without having used it! I bought this product two years ago for my dark apartment garden, to figure out the light and moisture levels. I have used this product oh I would say, over 100 times, with it being very helpful to monitor a new location or to see why your plant isn’t doing so hot.

I want to make clear that I have zero affiliation with Black & Decker, I’m just a gardener living in the PNW trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

It’s not that hard to set up, you simply install the software, plug it in to your USB, then register it (for free) on the Easy Bloom site. Out of the three settings, I tend to use the Recommend Mode the most, in order to see how my garden is overall (sun, water, humidity). I do not pay extra for anything. I don’t get promotional emails. I do receive an email when a plant should be harvested every now and then.

The Easy Bloom really has helped me out a lot! Any doubt, please check out my website and look at pictures of my garden.